Sunday, March 20, 2011

Cooking For O'Elliot: Post St. Paddy's Day Feast

If you happen to live in a major city, you no doubt figured out that last Thursday was St. Patrick's Day. Maybe it was the number of leprechaun chotchkes at the local drug store, the fact that a beer cost even more than gas, and the astonishing number of portly girls who were out and about in green baby tees with slogans that could easily be misconstrued as threats ("Kiss Me, I'm Irish") or confusing advertisements for AA ("The Irish Do It Better"). That said, I love St. Patrick's Day simply because I also love any excuse to drink Guinness and whiskey, eat lots of good sharp Irish cheddar cheese with hearty brown bread or sweet soda bread, and wear the woolly behemoth sweater I bought while living in Cork, Ireland at the tender age of 19 before things like cheese and beer threatened my ability to pull my pants past my knees.

I trust that young Elliot - not quite two years old and born of the Jewish half of my family - will indulge me and the other 50% of my genetic makeup, which just so happens to be heavily Irish Catholic and grateful for any excuse to turn whiskey into caramel sauce, in posting a menu that offers a little nip for everyone.

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease 8-9 inch round cake pan. Mix dry ingredients together and cut in the shortening. Whisk the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients until evenly moist. Then add the caraway seeds and raisins. Stir briefly to combine. Scrape and spoon out the dough into the prepared cake pan and use damp hand to flatten and smooth dough into a round. Use a sharp knife to slice a criss-cross into the dough.

Bake for 30 minutes until the loaf is golden and crusty and sounds hollow. Cool on a wire rack for five minutes before turning the pan on to the rack to cool to room temperature. Serve with vegan margarine or non-vegan butter if desired.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Add apple cider vinegar to soy milk and stir to combine and allow to sit for 1-2 minutes. Combine all other ingredients and add soy milk mixture. Let sit for 5-10 minutes to allow flour and oats to absorb liquid. Grease 9 inch pie plate and pour batter into plate. Smooth top and sprinkle oats on top if desired. Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and a knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with vegan or "real" cheddar cheese; and bitter orange marmalade if desired.

Irish Whiskey Roasted Salmon & Kale and Sweet Potato Salad

Irish Whiskey Roasted Salmon

2 tblsps honey

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup Irish Whiskey (I use Jameson's)

2 tsps dried thyme

1 1/2 tsps grated lemon zest

2 tblsps olive oil

4-6 salmon fillets (I use Wild Alaskan Sockeye Salmon which is less fatty)

Combine all ingredients for fish marinade in a large bowl and marinate fillets for 1-4 hours in the fridge.

While fish is marinating, make dressing for salad (lemon juice, olive oil, garlic). Wash kale, remove the leaves from the stems, and chop very fine (a quick process in the food processor can speed this process up).

After fish has marinated, pre-heat oven to 450 degrees. Remove fillets from marinade and place in baking pan on aluminum foil. Pour remaining marinade over fillets. Roast for 15-30 minutes depending on preference. All alcohol will cook off in this process. Flavor of cooked fish is mild.

While cooked fish rests, combine kale, cubed sweet potato, and dressing in a large bowl. Add a generous shake of sea salt.

**Remember, the Guinness Stout Cake is wheat-free, but because of the stout that's cooked into the cakes it is not gluten-free. The final taste of the cake is rich and nutty and tastes very little like stout. While the whiskey caramel sauce is vegan, the ice cream is obviously NOT vegan (though I'm trying to figure out a way to make it so). Combined, these are delicious, but you could just as easily substitute a vegan/dairy-free alternative to the ice cream.

Guinness Stout Upside Down Cupcakes (adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/3 cup canola oil

1/4 cup Guinness stout

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup sugar

2 tblsps ground flax seed

1/4 cup tapioca flour

1/2 cup white rice flour

1/2 cup quinoa flour

1/3 cup cocoa

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix milk and apple cider and let sit for 1-2 minutes. Combine with canola oil, sugar, vanilla and stout and beat until foamy. Add tapioca flour and flax seed for about a minute until emulsified. Add additional ingredients and mix until well combined. Pour into greased muffin tins and bake for 20-22 minutes. Let cool in tin on rack before transferring out of pan to cool completely.

Whiskey Caramel Sauce

1 cup white sugar

2 tblsps water

1 cup coconut milk (not sweetened)1-2 Tblsps whiskey

1/2-1 tsp sea salt

Combine water and sugar in a medium sauce pan. Cook over medium heat. DO NOT stir. Lift pan off of stove and swirl if necessary. Allow to cook until the mixture begins to turn amber. Be careful to not go past this stage or otherwise the sugar will burn and you'll have to start over. When the sugar has turned to an amber color, remove from the heat and add the coconut milk. The mixture will steam and bubble. Whisk gently until combined,add the whiskey, and sprinkle in the salt. Serve warm over the stout upside down cupcakes with vegan ice cream on the side or........

Bailey's Irish Cream Ice Cream (Again, not vegan and a little bit boozy since the alcohol goes in last, so not for the kids. Hey, adults need to eat too). (Adapted from Bailey's website)

Beat egg yolks with 1/8 cup of sugar until smooth. Put milk, remaining sugar, and vanilla in saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour slowly over the egg mixture, whisking as you go. Return mixture to the saucepan and heat gently until it begins to thicken (not too hot or it will scramble the eggs). Remove from heat, strain through a sieve and leave to cool. Beat in heavy cream and Bailey's. If you have an ice cream maker, make sure the mixture is totally cooled and then add to ice cream maker. If you don't have an ice cream maker, put in a freezer safe container and chill for approx 2 hours. Check on it every half hour and stir to mix out all developing ice crystals.